Green Party of Hawaii holds annual convention

KAILUA-KONA — The Green Party of Hawaii gathered Saturday for its annual state convention, electing officers and laying out plans for being more active in the state.

About two dozen people attended the statewide event held at the Kona Elks Lodge in Kailua-Kona. In attendance were members from the Big Island, Oahu and Maui who elected two co-chairpersons, Elizabeth Green and William Quam, and a treasurer. Jeff Turner.

Also elected were Green Party of the U.S. delegates Nick Nikhilananda and Elizabeth Green. They will attend the party’s annual National Meeting Committee is July 13-16 in New Jersey. Turner is an alternate.

Quam said the over-arching issue that members talked about during the meeting was making the Green Party of Hawaii more visible throughout the state, including on Oahu where, he said, despite the size of the population, the party is under-represented.

“The main thing that we realized is that we have to do an outreach to fill the party membership and we’re going to do this through a variety of different ways,” Quam said, explaining that could mean getting more involved with students in the University of Hawaii system or attending parades.

“We’re going to take a more active approach and make sure somebody shows up and represents the Green Party.”

Some of the issues the party plans to tackle legislatively are sunscreen, coral bleaching, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), renewable energy, climate change and sustainable development, among others, Quam said. For example, looking at the approval process for allowing rooftop solar on single-family homes and finding ways to create jobs based around the renewable energy sector.

“We’re going to take more positions that are Green Party positions and let the voters know we are for the people and also for job creation — it’s not job creation building more high rises or hotels but in renewable energy, which could be a great job creator.”